In order to fully understand the object of my investigation, I needed help from all imaginable quarters. Researching the connection between late modernist architecture in the USSR and the Moscow Conceptualism requires seeing the big picture – being aware of historical and cultural conditions, being familiar with local art, understanding Soviet and Russian architecture. Meetings with local architects were useful for understanding both an architect’s position in the Russia of today and the conditions of his/her work in the times of the USSR. It also helped me comprehend the complexity of the Soviet architectural heritage. Experts in the sphere of art and culture enabled me to penetrate into the world of Moscow Conceptualism and understand what lay behind this art. Finally, my Russian friends introduced me to their culture, acquainted me with their everyday life. They advised me on which movies to see, what exhibitions to visit or what literature to read. It had also required a great effort on my part: I had to learn Russian.
After collecting and analyzing this huge amount of information, I became sure that the initial assumption was right: there is a bilateral connection between modernist architecture and conceptual art. The architectural environment considered unattractive and even hostile actually turned out to be a cornucopia of ideas for art. The artists, on the other hand, did a lot to reassess the modern architecture when it was in total cultural neglect. The creation of this booklet – which is an attempt to apply for the inclusion of Belyayevo into the UNESCO World Heritage List on the basis of the assumption that the value of the place resides in the blending of architecture, art and something less definable but still important – was the setting of a new course. The fact that it had never been done before was a real challenge. The “Application for a Mixture of Tangible and Intangible Values” does not exist; those two types of values were always understood by the UNESCO as two separate things. This book is my attempt to adjust the existing UNESCO World Heritage application to the new situation when they interact and blend with one another.
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